Communications system with radio device and server

ABSTRACT

A communications system having a first server ( 205 ) with an electronic mail (e-mail) database for managing e-mail accounts, for storing radio device addresses associated with those accounts, and for storing electronic mail messages associated with those accounts. Each message has a header and text. A gateway connects the first server to a two-way radio network. A radio device ( 200 ) has a electronic messaging application. The radio device is capable of two-way communication over the two-way radio network. The first server comprises message handling software arranged to send, to the radio device, a portion of a message of a predetermined size, including a header portion and a text portion. The radio device ( 200 ) can request more of a message.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] This invention relates to a communications system with a radiodevice and a server. Separately and in addition, it relates to a radiodevice (e.g., a pager) for such a system having certain softwarereferred to as “Client” software and a server having certain softwarereferred to as “Server” software. A radio communications system such as(but not limited to) an asymmetric public two-way paging system connectsthe radio device and the server.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] There is an increasing demand for businessmen, professionals andordinary consumers to have greater access to communications on the move.Paging systems have become very popular for communications, enabling auser to carry a lightweight, low cost device that has good wide-area andin-building penetration. In the past, paging systems have suffered fromthe disadvantage of being one-way only, but recently Motorola, Inc. hasintroduced the “Reflex” asymmetric two-way paging system which enables auser to respond to incoming messages. Asymmetric systems areparticularly beneficial for sending out to the pager volumes of datathat exceed the volumes expected to be sent back. They are particularlysuited to the sending back of short acknowledgments or tags identifying“canned” responses (such as “OK” or “I'm unable to reply right now”).

[0003] Simultaneously with the development of asymmetric two-way pagingsystems, symmetric two-way data systems such as the ‘ARDIS’ (trademark)system have developed, enabling significant volumes of data to be sentin both directions over a nationwide public data system.

[0004] It is known to provide remote electronic mail (e-mail) connectionbetween a private e-mail server and a portable computer using a two-wayradio modem such as a “Personal Messenger 100D” (trademark) modemmanufactured by Motorola, Inc. Such an arrangement is shown in FIG. 1.The modem 106 is plugged into a PCMCIA slot of a portable computer 105and a two-way connection to the private e-mail server is established(almost like establishment of a two-way telephone modem link) between aportable computer and its host server. The connection is via a basestation 120 and a public network server 110 of the public two-way radionetwork 130. In such an arrangement, the computer behaves just as if itwere connected by a wireless local area network (LAN) to the server,except that the connection is slow (low band width and high latency). Ascreen will appear on the portable computer 105 showing the entirecontents of an “in” box maintained at the host server 115, with messagetypes, sender names, times of receipt and the like. By selecting aparticular message (using a mouse or otherwise), a command is sent tothe server causing the entire message to be downloaded to the portablecomputer.

[0005] Such two-way radio messaging systems tend to be expensive, partlybecause of the cost of providing a significant bandwidth radio channelwhich is largely dedicated (at a given time) to the user. Anothercontribution to the high cost is the separate modem and portablecomputer.

[0006] There is a need for a convenient and inexpensive way to access aprivate e-mail server over a radio system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007]FIG. 1 shows a prior art two-way radio communication system.

[0008]FIG. 2 shows a two-way radio communication system in accordancewith the present invention.

[0009]FIG. 3 shows an example of an e-mail message for purposes ofillustration.

[0010]FIG. 4 shows details of the communication system of FIG. 2.

[0011]FIG. 5 shows screen shots of screens that appear on a display ofthe radio device of FIG. 2.

[0012]FIG. 6 shows a flow diagram illustrating certain operations in theradio device of FIG. 2.

[0013]FIG. 7 shows a flow diagram illustrating the steps of establishinga virtual session between a radio device and a host/server.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] Referring to FIG. 2, a radio communications system is showncomprising a radio device 200 in the form of a two-way pager, preferablya PageWriter (trademark) pager available from Motorola, Inc. at 200North Point Center East Street 100, Alpharetta, Ga., 30202, USA. Theradio device 200 is in communication with a base station 201 of a publicasymmetric two-way paging system 202, having a public network server203. Such a system is provided, for example, under the trademark Skytel.Connected to the public network server 203 via a gateway 204 is aprivate network server 205, referred to as a “host” server. The term“host” indicates that certain communications devices are associated withthe host server 205, i.e., are registered with that host server. Suchcommunication devices include LAW connected terminals (described below)and include the radio device 200. The host sever 205 has virtual-clientsoftware 206, described in greater detail below.

[0015] The ratio device 200 may be a two-way page a portable computerwith radio capability, for example, a portable computer having a modem.The network 202 is not necessarily an asymmetric paging network, but canalternatively be a symmetric radio network, such as the “ARDIS” network.The base station 201 is shown for illustration only. The network 202will in fact have many base stations dispersed around the nation. Thenetwork 202 is shown as having a single base station 201 for two-waycommunication with the radio device 200, but an alternative arrangementis possible in which there are many more receivers than transmitters inthe network 202. The gateway 204 between the public network server 203and the host server 205 is preferably an internet connection, but cantake many forms. The connection may be a dedicated connection, or apublic ISDN connection, or an analog modem connection. The gateway 204could even be a radio connection into the network 202.

[0016] Referring to FIG. 3, an example of an electronic mail (e-mail)message is shown. The message comprises a header 301 and a body or text302. The message is also shown as having an attachment 303, for examplea picture. Within the header there is a sender field 310, a date andtime field 311 and a subject field 312. There is also an address fieldillustrated here as field 313. A further field is typically available(but not shown in FIG. 3), this being a cc field, indicating otherrecipients of the message. The attachment 303 can be included within thebody of the message, or there may be an information field in the header301, indicating the existence of the attachment and (optionally) thenature of the attachment.

[0017] In a prior art e-mail system using a radio network connection, itis known to present information from the header 301 at a radio device,in the form of a summary page summarizing, typically in column form,senders of messages, times of receipt and subject. It is a problem thatthe text 302 of a message can be very long. In the example given in FIG.3, there is a message from Baby Bear to Mommy Bear, but as acontinuation of this message, there is an earlier message from MommyBear to Daddy Bear. It is quite typical for multiple messages to bestacked together in a lengthy text. To send an entire message to a radiodevice can result in extensive and unnecessary usage of the limited andvaluable capacity of the radio channel. Additionally, it is illustratedin FIG. 3 that there is an attachment 303, which is a picture imbeddedin the body of the text 302. Attachments are commonly even larger thanthe text in which they are embodied. Pictures, for example, representvery large data files. The recipient of the message may not need theattachment or may not have the capability of viewing the attachment.

[0018] The manner in which a message such as the message shown in FIG. 3is handled by the system illustrated in FIG. 2 will be described, andfor the purposes of description, further details of the system on FIG. 2are described with reference to FIG. 4. In the following description,elements already described with reference to FIG. 2 are not describedagain.

[0019] Referring to the radio device 200 illustrated in FIG. 4, it isshown as having a transmitter 401 and receiver 402 coupled to an antenna403 (e.g., using a duplexer or antenna switch, neither of which isillustrated). The transceiver 40 and receiver 402 are connected to acontrol circuit 405, preferably a microprocessor. The control circuit405, has associated memory 406 and has prestored message memory 407. Thememory 406 and the associated message memory 407 can indeed be the samememory circuit. Also shown connected to the control circuit 405 isdisplay 408 and a keyboard 410. Due to the small size of the device 200,the keyboard 410 is necessarily very restricted. It preferably has a keyfor each letter of the alphabet, but can be limited to fewer keys eventhan this. In a selected mode of operation of the device 200, selectedkeys of the keyboard 410, e.g. keys 411 and 412, correspond to selectedmessages in the message store 407.

[0020] Referring to the host server 205, there is an e-mail database430, forming part of the host server 205 and there are computerterminals 431, 432 and 433 connected to the server 205 via a local areanetwork 435. The terminals 431 to 433 and the local area network 435 areoptional, but are included to assist in an explanation of the invention.

[0021] The host server 205 has virtual client software 206 whichinteracts with client software in the radio device 200. The virtualclient software includes an account table 450, in which account numbersor identifiers in the e-mail server database 430 are correlated withaccount numbers or identifiers in the public network server 203. Alsoincluded in the virtual client software of the host server 205 are anotification agent 455, a message portion handling routine 460 and acommand message receiver 465. In operation, users can use the terminals431 to 433 to generate e-mail messages and send these e-mail messages toeach other and to other recipients outside the local area network 435.Where messages are to be sent to other recipients, they can be sent bythe server 205 to internet connection 470. A user of a terminal, e.g.,terminal 431, can view a page which displays summary information of allhis incoming messages and a page summarizing all his outgoing messages.Each of these pages shows the receiver (or sender) of the message, thetime and the subject header. This information is presented to theterminal from the e-mail database 430. In the database 430, there is asection allocated to each user. Sections of the database 430 areidentified by user account number. Thus, for example, referring to themessage of FIG. 3, each of Daddy Bear, Mommy Bear and Baby Bear has anaccount in the database 430. Each account is identified (in the examplegiven) simply by the account holder's name. These accounts can bereferred to as e-mail accounts. If a user of a terminal, e.g., terminal431, wishes to see a particular message in his account, he can selectthat message and the server 205 will deliver the entire message,including the entire header and the entire text and all attachments fromthe database 430 to the terminal 431.

[0022] Referring now to the radio device 200, this device is able to actin almost the same manner as a terminal 431, but with certaindifferences in function and user interaction as described below. Radiodevice 200 first establishes a virtual session with server 205 in amanner described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,771,353 to Eggleston, et al., issuedon Jun. 23, 1998 and assigned to the assignee of the present invention.That application is incorporated herein by reference. In the course ofestablishing a virtual session, device 200 sends a message directed atserver 205 indicating the e-mail account in server database 430 to whichdevice 200 wishes to have access. In so doing, a correlation is enteredinto account table 450 correlating the e-mail account number oridentifier-with the paging network address of the pager 200.

[0023] A process by which a virtual session is established between theradio device 200 and host server 205 is illustrated in the flow chartembodiment of FIG. 7. This process typically begins with a user event,such as instantiation (forming) of a communications object at the radiodevice 200 and sending a registration message (steps 701-702).Alternatively, the infrastructure could initiate the communications bysending a page or the like requesting the radio device 200 to register(for example, when the radio device 200 has registered with the two waypaging system 202 but not yet requested registration with the hostserver 205). In any event, once a registration message is received bythe host server 205 in step 703, the host server 205 preferablyauthenticates and otherwise qualifies the radio device 205 in steps 704and 705. Upon successful authentication, the host server 205instantiates a communications session object (CSO) including clientparameters retrieved from an inactive client parameter store, asmodified by the user in his registration or subsequent messages (step706). These parameters include at a minimum client (e.g., radio device)identifiers, but may also include additional preferences based on thetype of communications involved. Following instantiation at the hostserver 205, a response message, e.g., a further registration message, issent to the radio device 200, and an acknowledgment (ACK) returned tothe host server 205; both radio device 200 and host server 205 thenretain the instantiated objects as fully qualified, and start sessiontimers (steps 707-709). At this point a virtual session has beenestablished between the radio device 200 and host server 205. If theregistration is not successful, then any instantiated object is deleted,with the radio device 200 returned to an inactive status.

[0024] The typical radio device 200 includes a data encoder/decoder 404to accommodate the system communications protocol(s). The host systemserver 205 includes some form of protocol translators or formatters 462. . . 464. The protocol translators serve to format or code the messagesas appropriate for transport between the host system server 205 andradio device 200; these include e.g., appropriate protocol software thatcan be located at the host system server 205, or any other convenientprocessor per design of the given communication system.

[0025] By the way of explanation of paging network addresses, each pageror other radio device 200 registered on the public radio network 202 hasan address and a corresponding account in a database 420, associatedwith public network server 203. Account table 450 maintains a table ofcorrelations between e-mail account numbers or identifiers in database430 with public network account numbers in database 420. In this manner,when a message is received from a given radio device 200, server 205receives the message with an identification indicating the radio devicefrom which it is received and is able to correlate that radio devicewith the appropriate e-mail account number. Similarly, when an e-mail isaddressed to a particular account number and needs to be sent to theuser of that account at his radio device 200, the appropriate address ofthe radio device is identified in account table 450 and the message issent to the correct radio device.

[0026] Radio device 200 is able to generate a number of pre-identifiedmessages stored in message storage 407. Some of these messages arecommands. The commands that can be sent include “OK,” “Finish,” and“Move.”

[0027] In operation, message portion handling routine 460 sends to theradio device 200 a selected list of headers of messages in the in-boxfor the account in database 430 that corresponds to the radio device200. The headers are short, giving merely the sender of a message (field310 of FIG. 3) the date or time (field 311) and the subject (field 312)or a portion of the subject field. Rules are set up by the individualuser in database 430 defining how many and what form of headerinformation the user wishes to receiver in viewing his in-box. Forexample, the user can set up a rule which provides that only the last 10messages are shown or he can set up a rule which provides that onlymessages received in the last 24 hours are shown. For each message, apredetermined limit is set for the amount of text from the body of themessage that is sent to the radio device 200.

[0028] Preferably, the first few lines of text are all that is sent uponreceipt of the view command. In this manner, the network 202 is not tiedup and overused by having to send the entire text 302 of the e-mailmessage. Similarly, the memory 406 of the device 200 (which is verylimited) is not congested with lengthy e-mail message text and withattachments. A limit of 300 characters is a suitable limit.

[0029] If the user 200 needs more of the message, a further button (or arepeat of the previous button) can be pressed, causing another command(e.g., the command “move”) to be sent to the server 205, causing thenext few lines of text to be sent to the radio device 200. In this way,a user can continue receiving further portions of a message until he issatisfied that he has understood enough of the message for his purposes.For example, a message may require the setting up of a meeting and theuser can page through the message until he has received the time, placeand date of the meeting and the uses may not wish to review any more ofthe message until he has returned to his office. When the user of theradio device 200 returns to his office, he can use one of the terminals431 to 433 to read the complete message, print it off and read anyattachments.

[0030] Referring now to FIG. 5, a series of examples of screen shotsdisplayed on the display 408 of a radio device 200 are shown. Eachscreen shot represents a mode of operation of the radio device.Accordingly, there is a software routine in the control circuit 405 ofradio device 200 which corresponds to each of the nine screen shots inFIG. 5. FIG. 5 could equally be presented as a state diagramillustrating the transitions between these respective software routines.

[0031] In FIG. 5, there is an opening screen 500, which is of a highestlevel mode, which is presented to a user upon power-up of the radiodevice 200. As a function of the process of powering-up and presentingof the screen 500, the radio device 200 establishes a virtual sessionwith the public network server 203 of the public radio network 202.Screen 500 shows five on screen buttons 501 to 505. These are labeled“in-box,” “feed,” “agent,” “user” and “exit.” Preferably, the fiveon-screen buttons, 501 to 505 correspond to five hardware buttons on thekeyboard 410, such as buttons 411 and 412, etc. Alternatively, thedisplay 408 may have a digitizer, and a stylus can be used to select andactivate on-screen buttons. Each of buttons 501 to 504 represents a modeof operation illustrated on the right of screen 500. These modes ofoperation are message view mode 510, message feed mode 520, messageagent mode 530 and user preferences mode 540.

[0032] In the message view mode 510, the first screen presented is anin-box screen 550. This screen has four on-screen buttons 551, 552, 553and 554. These buttons correspond to the commands “view,” “delete,”“new” and “done.” Screen 550 illustrates the contents of the user'sin-box as stored in server database 430 (FIG. 4). The information ispresented in the form of rows illustrating, for each message, thesender, the date of receipt and a portion of the subject field. Byactivating button 551 (using keypad 410 or using a stylus) the processproceeds to screen 560. Screen 560 presents the sender, date of receiptand subject of the message and also presents a portion of the text ofthe message. The portion 561 of the text is only a few lines of text.The size of the portion 561 is either predetermined (e.g., selected tofit within the display 408) or is selectable by the user defining apreference for the length of the message portion. Other arrangementscan, be devised for limiting the size of the message portion 561, forexample, the message port can be terminated at a given character or setof characters. As an example, the message can be terminated at theoccurrence of the first or second carriage return symbol.

[0033] Screen 560 has three on-screen buttons, 562, 563 and 564correspond to the commands “done,” “reply” and “more.” Further buttons(not shown) can be caused to appear corresponding to, the commands“delete,” “forward,” and “reply.”

[0034] Turning to message feed mode 520, activation of this mode byactivation of button 502 presents screen 570. This screen has on-screenbuttons 571 and 572 corresponding to the commands “OK,” and “cancel.”Screen 570 also has some mode select buttons 573.

[0035] Referring to message agent mode 530. Activation of this modepresents message agent screen 580 having “continue” and “cancel” buttons581 and 582 and having preference selection buttons 583. From screen580, the process can proceed to screen 585 (agent summary screen) havingbuttons 586 through 589 representing the command “new,” “edit,”“delete,” and “done.”

[0036] From agent summary screen 585 the process can proceed to agentaction screen 590, which presents “finish” button 591 and “cancel”button 592. There are various other preference buttons are illustratedon the screen 590. Alternatively from screen 585, the process canproceed to screen 595, having buttons 596 and 597 representing thecommands “OK” and “cancel.” Screen 595 also has user preference buttons598.

[0037] Finally, user preference mode 540 causes the presentation ofscreen 610 having entry field 611, 612 and 613 and having commandbuttons 614 and 615 for the commands “OK” and “cancel.”

[0038] In operation, the application opens with screen 500. From thisscreen the user can proceed to one of the four modes of operation 510 to540 using the buttons 501 to 504, respectively. Alternately, by pressingbutton 505 “exit,” the application quits and returns to a defaultapplication unrelated to the function of messaging. Upon selection ofmessage feed mode 520, screen 570 is presented in which the user canselect whether he wishes all messages or only messages routed by theuser's agent or no messages to be fed to the radio device 200.

[0039] Upon selecting one of the first two preferences and activatingbutton 571, a message is sent from the user device 200 to the server 205instructing the server 205 to begin sending (feeding) messages to theradio device 200. The message sent from the radio device 200 to theserver 205 indicates, according to buttons 573, whether all messages inthe in box are to be fed or whether only those messages that areidentified by an agent (described below) are to be fed to the radiodevice 200. Upon receipt of this message at command message receiver465, server 205 commences sending through the gateway 204 and throughthe public radio network 202, for each of the desired messages theheader and a portion of the text. Once sent, the messages can be viewedat the radio device 200 as shown in screens 550 and 560.

[0040] Referring to mode 530, this mode is activated by pressing 503 andbrings up screen 580 which allows the user of the radio device 200 todefine a set of rules (to be stored in database 430) defining themessages or forms of messages or types of messages that the user of theradio device 200 wishes to receive. Thus, for example, selection buttons583 can call for messages which contain certain words or messages whichomit certain words. Progressing from screen 580, button 581 can bepressed closing the program to proceed to screen 585, the agent summaryscreen. Screen 585 summarizes the messages that are to be sent from theserver 205 to the radio device 200. For example, messages can beselected identified by sender or by subject key word or by urgency flagor by body (text). By activating the button 586, the program proceeds toscreen 595 and a new key word can be entered. The field to be searchedis selected by preference buttons 598 and a key word is entered in field600. The key word entered in field 600 can cause a search by the server205 in the sender field, the subject field or the body field, accordingto the selection made in section buttons 598.

[0041] By pressing edit button 587 in screen 585, agent action screen590 is presented, inviting the server 205 to send the entire message oronly the first predefined number of characters or only the sender oronly the sender and subject when the key words match. By activatingbutton 591, a message is sent to the command message receiver 465 of theserver 205 identifying the agent actions defined by the user. Theseagent actions are stored as a rule in database 430 and thereafter definethe degree of filtering of messages from the user's in box to the radiodevice 200.

[0042] By activating user preference mode 540 the user can enter hisname in field 611, his e-mail address in field 612 and his e-mail alertin field 613. By pressing button 614, a message is sent to the server205 and received at the command message receiver 465. This message canentirely change the e-mail address of the user of the radio device 200,causing an update in the account table 450 showing a new correspondencebetween an e-mail address and a pager address. This feature allows auser of the radio device 200 to permit a fellow user to enter an e-mailaddress and to permit a different e-mail account to be viewed.

[0043] Summarizing FIG. 5, it has been described how four modes ofoperation of a software program stored in controller 405 of radio device200 are available. The message view mode allows the user of device 200to view e-mail messages from the e-mail server 205. Message feed mode520 instructs the server 205 to begin transmitting a user's messagesfrom the e-mail server to the radio device 200. The message agent mode530 allows a user of the device 200 to remotely set up a set offiltering parameters or rules to be stored in database 430 and to beassociated with the user's e-mail account. This set of rules orfiltering parameters defines the types of messages or aspects ofmessages that the user wishes to view remotely. This feature has thegreat advantage of flexibility in allowing the user to select messagesto be presented at the radio device 200. This feature is most useful ina device having a very limited screen size and memory capacity, becauseindiscriminate presentation of all messages to the radio device canunnecessarily fill up the memory and fill up the screen, causingirritation to the user.

[0044] Finally, user preferences mode 540 allows the user to identifyhimself to the server 205 to identify which particular e-mail account isto be viewed, independent of the address of the radio device 200 in thepublic radio network 202.

[0045] Referring to FIG. 6, a flow diagram is shown describing theoperation of the radio device 200 in association with the host server205. Steps that take place at the radio device 200 are shown on the leftand steps that take place at the host server 205 are shown on the right.Arrows between the left and right hand sides of the diagram representmessages (including command messages) exchanged between the radio deviceand the server. FIG. 6 is presented by way of illustration of theprocess of starting the feed of messages from the host server to theradio device, reading of a portion of the message and requesting of moreof the same message. Flow diagrams similar to the diagram in FIG. 6 canreadily be created by one skilled in the art to illustrate the otheroperations and interactions between the radio device and the serverdescribed above with reference to FIG. 5.

[0046] Referring in detail to FIG. 6, the flow begins by establishing avirtual session between the radio device 200 and the host server 205.This establishment of a virtual session takes place at steps 650 in theradio device and 651 in the host server. Following commencement of avirtual session, and following activation of on-screen key 502, acommand to start feed is generated. This command (feed command 653) issent to the server and received at the server in step 655. On receipt ofthis command, the server sends header information in step 656 and thisinformation is received at the radio device in step 657.

[0047] Upon activation of the “view” button 551 in screen 550, a messageis selected (step 658) and displayed on the display of the radio device.Flow proceeds to step 675. At step 675, if the user requires more of themessage, he presses on-screen button 564 and flow proceeds from step 675to step 680, causing a command 681 to be generated and sent to theserver requesting more of the message. This command is received at step682 and in step 684 a counter is incremented to identify the nextportion of the message. If, in step 686, there is no more message to besent, i.e., the counter has reached the end of the message, an errorcommand can be sent in step 688, indicating that there is no moremessage to be sent and the process ends at 690. On the other hand, ifstep 686 identifies that there is more message to be sent, flow proceedsto step 664 and an outbound paging message is formatted to deliver thenext portion of the body of the message and the process continues.

[0048] The above description has been given by way of example only andmodifications of detail can be made by one of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

1. A method of redirecting messages between a host system and a radiodevice during a virtual session between the same, comprising the stepsof: initiating communication between the host system and the radiodevice; registering the radio device at the host system and generating aredirection trigger; receiving messages directed to a first address atthe host system from a plurality of message senders; in response to theredirection trigger, continuously redirecting the messages from the hostsystem to the radio device; receiving the messages at the radio device;generating reply messages at the radio device to be sent to theplurality of message senders and transmitting the reply messages to thehost system; receiving the messages at the host system from the radiodevice and correlating address information of the messages such that themessages use an appropriate address associated with the host system asthe originating address, wherein messages generated at either the hostsystem or the radio device share the address associated with the hostsystem; and transmitting the messages from the host system to theplurality of message senders.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising the step of: storing information regarding the configurationof the radio device at the host system.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein the configuration information stored at the host systemincludes: (A) the network address of the radio device; and (B) protocolinformation regarding the format or coding of the messages.
 4. Themethod of claim 3, wherein the configuration information stored at thehost system further includes: (C) an indication of an identification ofa radio device.
 5. The method of claim 3, further comprising the stepsof: for each message to be redirected, the host system determiningwhether the message includes an attachment; if so, then maintaining theattachment at the host system.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein thetype of attachment is a readable file.
 7. The method of claim 1, whereinthe received messages are addressed using a sender address and areceiver address, the method further comprising the steps of:determining whether the receiver address is associated with the radiodevice; if the receiver address is associated with the radio device,then determining a network address of the radio device and readdressingthe messages using the receiver address and the network address of theradio device; and after receiving the redirecting messages at the radiodevice, displaying the messages at the radio device using the senderaddress and the receiver address, so that the radio device is able toact in the same manner as a terminal at the host system.
 8. The methodof claim 1, wherein the communication is initiated between the hostsystem and the radio device in response to an external event or anetworked event.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the external eventincludes the step of sending a registration message from the radiodevice to the host system.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein thenetworked event includes the step of sending a page from the host systemto the radio device.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the sendingstep is initiated in response to the host system determining that theradio device has registered with a wireless system.
 12. The method ofclaim 9, wherein the external event further comprises the step offorming a communications object at the radio device.
 13. The method ofclaim 8, further comprising the step of authenticating the radio deviceat the host system after the communication has been initiated.
 14. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the radio device is a pager.
 15. The methodof claim 1, wherein the radio device is equipped to send and receivemessages.
 16. The method of claim 1, wherein the host system includes aset of rules for limiting the redirection of only those messages thatare transmitted to the host system from a sender identified by the setof rules.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein a user can modify the setof rules.
 18. The method of claim 27, wherein the user can modify theset of rules by configuring the host system.
 19. The method of claim 17,wherein the user can modify the set of rules by transmitting a messagefrom the radio device to the host system.
 20. The method of claim 16,wherein the set of rules is activated and deactivated at the hostsystem.
 21. The method of claim 16, wherein the set of rules isactivated and deactivated by a message transmitted from the radio deviceto the host system.
 22. A message redirection method performed at a hostsystem during a virtual session between the host system and a radiodevice, comprising the steps of: associating a first address with thehost system; initiating communication between the host system and theradio device; registering the radio device at the host system andgenerating a redirection trigger; receiving messages at the host systemfrom a plurality of message senders; in response to the redirectiontrigger, continuously redirecting the received messages from the hostsystem to the radio device; receiving reply messages from the radiodevice at the host system and correlating address information of thereply messages using the first address associated with the host systemas the originating address, wherein messages generated at either thehost system or the radio device share the first address; andtransmitting the configured reply messages from the host system to theplurality of message senders.
 23. A message redirection method performedduring a virtual session between a host system and a radio devicecomprising the steps of: initiating communication between the hostsystem and the radio device; registering the radio device at the hostsystem and generating a redirection trigger; receiving messages at thehost system from a plurality of message senders; in response to theredirection trigger, continuously redirecting the received messages fromthe host system to a radio device associated with the host system;receiving the redirected messages at the radio device; generating replymessages at the radio device; transmitting the reply messages from theradio device to the host system; receiving the reply messages at thehost system and correlating the reply messages using the first emailaddress for the user of the radio device as the address originating thereply messages, wherein messages generated at either the host system orthe radio device share the first email address; and transmitting thecorrelated reply messages from the host system to the plurality ofmessage senders.
 24. A method for redirecting messages between a hostsystem and a radio device during a virtual session between the same,comprising the steps of: initiating communication between the hostsystem and the radio device; registering the radio device at the hostsystem and generating a redirection trigger; receiving incoming messagesdirected to a first address at the host system from a plurality ofmessage senders, wherein the first address is associated with messagesgenerated at the host system by a user of the radio device; in responseto the redirection trigger, continuously redirecting the incomingmessages from the host system to the radio device; receiving outgoingmessages generated at the radio device at the host system; correlatingaddress information of the outgoing messages so that the first addressis used as an originating address of the outgoing messages, whereinmessages generated at either the radio device or the host system sharethe first address; and transmitting the outgoing messages from the hostsystem to the message recipients, redirecting the received message tothe message recipient.
 25. A method for redirecting messages generatedat a radio device by a message sender destined for a message recipient,comprising the steps of: initiating communication between the hostsystem and the radio device; registering the radio device at the hostsystem and generating a redirection trigger; continuously redirectingmessages received at the host system to the radio device; receiving amessage, generated at the radio device by the message sender destinedfor the message recipient, at a message portion handling routineassociated with a host system, wherein messages generated at the hostsystem by the message sender use a first address; correlating addressinformation of the received message such that the received message usesthe message sender's first address as the address originating themessage, wherein messages generated at either the radio device or thehost system share the message sender's first address; and redirectingthe configured received message to the message recipient.
 26. The methodof claim 25, wherein the communication is initiated between the hostsystem and the radio device in response to an external event or anetworked event.
 27. The method of claim 25, further comprising thesteps of: configuring one or more message filters at the host system;and filtering received messages at the host system using the one or moremessage filters prior to redirecting messages to the radio device.
 28. Amethod of redirecting messages between a host system and a radio device,comprising the steps of: configuring one or more redirection events atthe host system; detecting that a redirection event has occurred at thehost system and generating a redirection trigger; receiving messagesdirected to a first address at the host system from a plurality ofmessage senders; in response to the redirection trigger, continuouslyredirecting the messages from the host system to the radio device;receiving the messages at the radio device; generating reply messages atthe radio device to be sent to the plurality of message senders andtransmitting the reply messages to the host system; receiving the replymessages at the host system and correlating address information of thereply messages such that the reply messages use the first addressassociated with the host system as the originating address, whereinmessages generated at either the host system or the radio device sharethe first address; and transmitting the reply messages from the hostsystem to the plurality of message senders.
 29. The method of claim 28,further comprising the step of: storing information regarding theconfiguration of the radio device at the host system.
 30. The method ofclaim 29, wherein the configuration information stored at the hostsystem includes: (A) the network address of the radio device; and (B)protocol information regarding the format or coding of the messages. 31.The method of claim 30, wherein the configuration information stored atthe host system further includes: (C) an indication of an identificationof a radio device.
 32. The method of claim 30, further comprising thesteps of: for each message to be redirected, the host system determiningwhether the message includes an attachment; if so, then maintaining theattachment at the host system.
 33. The method of claim 32, wherein thetype of attachment is a readable file.
 34. The method of claim 28,wherein the received messages are addressed using a sender address and areceiver address, the method further comprising the steps of:determining whether the receiver address is associated with the radiodevice; if the receiver address is associated with the radio device,then determining a network address of the radio device and readdressingthe messages using the receiver address and the network address of theradio device; and after receiving the redirecting messages at the radiodevice, displaying the messages at the radio device using the senderaddress and the receiver address, so that the radio device is able toact in the same manner as a terminal at the host system.
 35. The methodof claim 28, wherein the redirection events include external events ornetworked events.
 36. The method of claim 35, wherein the external eventis a message from the radio device to start redirection.
 37. The methodof claim 28, wherein the radio device is a pager.
 38. The method ofclaim 28, wherein the radio device is equipped to send and receivemessages.
 39. The method of claim 28, wherein the host system includes aset of rules for limiting the redirection of only those messages thatare transmitted to the host system from a sender identified by the setof rules.
 40. The method of claim 39, wherein a user can modify the setof rules.
 41. The method of claim 40, wherein the user can modify theset of rules by configuring the host system.
 42. The method of claim 40,wherein the user can modify the set of rules by transmitting a messagefrom the radio device to the host system.
 43. The method of claim 39,wherein the set of rules is activated and deactivated at the hostsystem.
 44. The method of claim 39, wherein the set of rules isactivated and deactivated by a message transmitted from the radio deviceto the host system.
 45. A message redirection method operating at a hostsystem, comprising the steps of: associating a first address with thehost system; configuring one or more redirection events at the hostsystem; detecting that a redirection event has occurred at the hostsystem and generating a redirection trigger; receiving messages at thehost system from a plurality of message senders; in response to theredirection trigger, continuously redirecting the received messages fromthe host system to a radio device associated with the host system;receiving reply messages from the radio device at the host system,translating the reply messages, and correlating the address informationof the reply message in order to use the first address associated withthe host system as the originating address, wherein messages generatedat either the radio device or the host system share the first address;and transmitting the translated reply messages from the host system tothe plurality of message senders.
 46. A message redirection methodcomprising the steps of: configuring one or more redirection events at ahost system; detecting that a redirection event has occurred at the hostsystem and generating a redirection trigger; receiving messages at thehost system from a plurality of message senders; in response to theredirection trigger, continuously redirecting the received messages fromthe host system to a radio device associated with the host system,wherein a first email address for the user of the radio device isassociated with the host system; receiving the redirected messages atthe radio device; generating reply messages at the radio device;transmitting the reply messages from the radio device to the hostsystem; receiving the reply messages at the host system, translating thereply messages, and correlating the address information of the replymessage in order to use the first email address for the user of theradio device as the address originating the reply messages, whereinmessages generated at either the host system or the radio device sharethe first email address; and transmitting the translated reply messagesfrom the host system to the plurality of message senders.
 47. A methodfor redirecting messages generated at a radio device by a message senderdestined for a message recipient, comprising the steps of: receiving amessage, generated at the radio device by the message sender destinedfor the message recipient, at a message portion handling routine with ahost system, wherein messages generated at the host system by themessage sender use a first address; correlating address information ofthe received message such that the received message uses the messagesender's first address as the address originating the message, whereinmessages generated at either the radio device or host system share themessage sender's first address; and redirecting the received message tothe message recipient; configuring one or more redirection events at thehost system; detecting that a redirection event has occurred at the hostsystem and generating a redirection trigger; and continuouslyredirecting messages received at the host system to the radio device.48. The method of claim 47, further comprising the steps of: configuringone or more message filters at the host system; and filtering receivedmessages at the host system using the one or more message filters priorto redirecting messages to the radio device.
 49. The method forredirecting messages between a host system and a radio device,comprising the steps of: configuring one or more redirection events atthe host system; detecting that a redirection event has occurred at thehost system and generating a redirection trigger; receiving incomingmessages directed to a first address at the host system from a pluralityof message senders, wherein the first address is associated withmessages generated at the host system by a user of the radio device; inresponse to the redirection trigger, continuously redirecting theincoming messages from the host system to the radio device; receivingoutgoing messages generated at the radio device at the host system;correlating address information of the outgoing messages so that thefirst address is used as an originating address of the outgoingmessages, wherein messages generated at either the radio device or thehost system share the first address; and transmitting the outgoingmessages from the host system to message recipients.